


Shuos and the Not-So-Subtle Art of Back-Stabbing

by Sparcina



Category: Machineries of Empire Series - Yoon Ha Lee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Banter, Canon Divergence - Ninefox Gambit, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Jedao and Cheris are on a mission, Spy Shenanigans, in more than one way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28229727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparcina/pseuds/Sparcina
Summary: Cheris may be small by Kel standards, but Jedao stood tall within her, the wealth of his knowledge a gun she could fire at will. Her body was its sheath, her apparent submission a velvet glove covering an iron fist. They were two halves of a plan, Jedao and her, shadow and light intertwined, a weapon with its muzzle aimed at the very system that used them.
Relationships: Ajewen Cheris & Garach Jedao Shkan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: MachinExchange 2021





	Shuos and the Not-So-Subtle Art of Back-Stabbing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DreamsAtDusk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamsAtDusk/gifts).



> In this alternate Ninefox timeline, Mikodez has Cheris-Jedao picked up right after the events at the Fortress of Scattered Needles. So, no Kel swarm showing up to destroy Cheris's fleet, and no carrion bomb prompting Cheris to 'absorb' Jedao.

This new infiltration assignment was going as well as the last one. And the one before that, too.

 _“I told you they were onto us,”_ Cheris hissed in subvocals, ducking just in time to avoid a hail of bullets.

_“Then you should have listened to your gut...instead of those instincts that aren’t yours.”_

Catching the revenant’s smirk in the smooth metallic surface of a crate, Cheris scowled. _Those instincts._ She’d had to work hard to overcome the formation instincts, to stand her ground and do what she thought was right while Jedao was of another mind, but she could do it. Unfortunately, there were still occasions when she… slipped, so to speak, and reverted to former habits, deferring to a hierarchical superior.

Garach Jedao Shkan wasn’t his superior. He was a tormented soul anchored to her body, a former enemy turned ally. Together, they shared a vision. A goal…

She shelved those familiar considerations for later, even though she didn’t need to devote all of her attention on the fight. One of the perks of anchoring a revenant whose fighting skills were top of the chart was that she barely had to think: she let the body take over, taking advantage of Jedao’s 360° range of vision to anticipate her opponents’ movements. Her own training as a Kel made it all that much easier. Not that she thought of herself as Kel Cheris these days. She was Ajewen Cheris, with a pinch of disgraced general.

_“To your two o’clock.”_

The Andan diplomat must have flawed survival instincts, because the sight of his comrades piling up on the floor didn’t keep him from lashing out at the intruder. Cheris caught the diplomat’s wrist easily and twisted it back, reaching for the man’s throat next. The moment Jedao’s reflexes bled through her, prompting her into breaking the diplomat’s neck in retaliation for an attempt at enthralling that _failed_ , she relaxed her grip just in time to put him to sleep instead.

“ _For the sake of fox and hound, Cheris, we can’t spare the time to-_ ”

Time. Such a peculiar concept.

 _“Yes, we do. This isn’t a one-man war anymore, General_ , _”_ she said, injecting as much irreverence in her tone as she could.

“ _Cheris_ …”

Cheris strode into the officer’s quarters, hands casually upturned to expose her fingerless gloves, Jedao’s smirk dancing on her lips. The sight of both was enough to send a few of those officers on their way. Her eyes darted from side to side as she caught a first lieutenant in an arm lock and used him as a shield. To her relief, no one was desperate (or stupid) enough to shoot the soldier. _“Can you see it?”_ she queried, still in subvocals.

_“Not yet. But there are more than enough Kels so far in our path to point us in the right direction.”_

_“Is that one of your new Kel jokes?”_ she quipped back, effortlessly sending the man sprawling to the ground and tackling the next adversary.

 _“I wouldn’t dare,”_ Jedao replied smoothly, even as Cheris rolled to the ground, knocking the carrion gun out of the Kel’s hand. _“Of course, they’d been notified we might attack.”_

Cheris kicked the gun out of the way, lips twitching in disgust. The Shuos Hexarch would be happy to learn that there was a mole on his staff. _Again. “So much for infiltration.”_

_“Shuos wouldn’t be Shuos if they gave you all the necessary information.”_

The fight went on, but thankfully, there were no more carrion guns. Cheris threw their last opponent over one shoulder and slammed her hand down on their solar plexus, with just the right amount of strength. Jedao made an approving sound.

 _“Besides, you’re handling diplomacy just fine._ ”

This mission was supposed to be straightforward, but that word always meant trouble coming out of Shuos Mikodez’s mouth. Cheris didn’t mind. She was wary of _easy_. It meant traps. Not that the highly complicated, stupidly convoluted assignments weren’t booby-trapped in their own way, but Cheris liked the challenge. The occasion to refine her own plan.

By the time they changed the Silkmoth’s course, all the crew was horizontal, Andan and Kel alike, but no one was dead. Cheris counted it as a win.

“ _Not subtle,”_ Jedao remarked as Cheris looked over the people passed out on the floor, but he sounded pleased.

Cheris typed a long string of equations, querying the grid by a back door like she’d been instructed. Information retrieval was the easy part of this assignment.

“ _Subtle is for Shuos and Andan,”_ she said. _“Besides, I can’t be too predictable, or Mikodez will lose interest_.”

_“That may be the only thing we have in common.”_

The note of savagery in his voice sent a jolt up Cheris’s spine, and her fingers stilled for a second. “ _I thought my predictable skills in maths was what made me so convenient for you.”_

A beat of silence.

And then: “ _I am your gun.”_

Another shiver ran through Cheris’s body. She felt heat sizzling in her veins, some of it the adrenaline left over from the fighting of the last thirty-three point five minutes, but that wasn’t all that it was. Jedao may be the oldest general in existence, and a threat all six current factions had learned to fear, but he was a double-edged blade that could turn on his one true ally someday.

That day could be anytime.

 _Time_ …

Cheris sat at the control while the grid showed her what she wanted. _“It shouldn’t take long,”_ she announced, fingers flying.

It didn’t take long. Not to copy the data, and not to disable the threshold winnowers timed to go off.

 _“Never again,”_ Jedao said.

Cheris watched the energy levels of the atrocious weapons reach zero. _“Never again,”_ she agreed.

*

The fox-form welcomed them back in the Citadel with a chirping sound that sounded smug, at least to Jedao.

 _“Of course it’s smug,”_ Cheris remarked in subvocals. _“It’s a Shuos.”_

_“At least it’s not offering you to play games.”_

_“The Hexarch’s games are all I can handle.”_

Jedao didn’t disagree. Cheris couldn’t read his thoughts, just like he couldn’t read hers, but she could sense his restlessness. And after she was done reporting to the Shuos Hexarch, running circles around the Mikodez’s circles, she felt quite on edge herself. The urge to spar was strong, but she knew she was under surveillance, and showing any sign of unease would just stretch the distance between her and her objective. _Their_ objective.

 _“We could read,”_ Jedao offered.

Having expected the revenant to suggest yet another game of Jeng-zai, Cheris was already reaching for the cards. _“I don’t feel like thinking right now,”_ she said, and began shuffling the set. Reading poetry with Jedao was an intellectual exercise she only enjoyed under very specific circumstances. Right now, Jeng-zai would work better to calm her down. That game, she didn’t need to win.

She looked down at the Deuce of Gears in her hand. A card. A pawn in a greater game. That was how Hexarch Mikodez saw her and her anchor. As something to be used.

 _“Impressions are important,”_ Jedao had told her when they’d begun to hatch their plan.

Cheris picked another card. Yes, impressions were important, and the one they made, anchor and revenant, was one of a good pet spy who only tried to survive.

But pets could bite. Pawns could move beyond their intended purpose, messing up even the best-planned board. It was good, that Hexarch Mikodez treated them as pawns.

Impressions _were_ important to maintain illusions.


End file.
